Author's Note: Welcome to my new story, and it should be an interesting one! I don't believe this should be classified as AU, as it takes place after the games, though if you disagree, please tell me. I kind of got the idea from what Riku might do to get back someone important to him (not Tsubasa Chronicle-he's searching for a person, not feathers-I didn't think of the similarities till after I had written the prologue.) This collection is gonna have a little bit of everything hopefully-tragedy, angst, adventure, humor, and a little romance, though it's not going to be blatantly obvious. This is an experiment on the use of drabbles and oneshots to tell a story. It may not follow a particular timeline, but it will flow. Most of the chapters will probably be short- I'm looking at character developement and interaction rather than an epic plot. However, it should be interesting, and if you have time, reviews are always appreciated. There will be absolutely no character bashing, critiques are welcome, and flames will be ignored.

The title of this is based on a Streetlight Manifesto song "Somewhere in the Between" awesome band

Standard Disclaimer (applies to all chapters): Don't own, never will, but darn awesome game

Somewhere in the Between

ziling

Prologue: The Deal

The halls of the Underworld are silent but for the pad of his booted feet on the darkened stone. He hates that this is where the souls of the dead come for their final rest. This is a place of solemnity and darkness, a place where hopes are crushed and dreams have died with the body. He is light and life personified, too quick and full of such tangible energy that, even if he were dead, the dark caverns would echo with the sounds of his laughter ringing against the cold corridors. This place, with its three-headed slobbering dogs and eerily glowing rivers of death, could never be enough to contain him.

The memory of that bright smile sends warmth through Riku's chill body. It dogs him, driving him faster onward, to find the master of this literal hell.

He's a bit farther into the caverns when he feels a presence suddenly flare behind him, almost overwhelming in its sheer magnitude. He whirls about, Way to Dawn instantly appearing in his hand, to face this sudden threat.

Hades, sharpened teeth bared in an insufferable grin, raises a placating hand which, being blue and clawed, happens to not be reassuring at all. "Whoah there, kid. Put that thing away before you poke somebody's eye out. Probably yours, seeing as I'm a god and all, and well, you just can't kill me."

Riku lowers the Keyblade but does not send it away, instead remaining guarded. He's heard the stories of the person before him, and, for the sheer fact that it is a god, should therefore not be trusted. Not that he looks trustworthy at all, with those yellow eyes watching the teen with a calculating coldness only ever seen on the face belonging to Riku's darkest memories. There is a reason those have remained buried and unturned for so long.

"So, what brings a runt like you down here?" Hades' voice is as oily as the smoke that curls around him. Riku fights the urge to bat the twining tendrils away as they snake their way up his own body. "Aren't you supposed to be cavorting with your little spiky haired friend and his menagerie?"

Riku's eyes narrow, and his grip on Way to Dawn tightens. The god obviously is deriving a perverse amount of pleasure from testing the limits of the teen's patience, if his widening grin is anything to judge by.

"What was the kid's name again? Annoying little bugger, waving that key thing around. Shorty? Sky? Sam? Sarah? Sorry? Sor-"

Riku snaps, and shoves his Keyblade against the throat of the god. "Where is he?" he snarls, green eyes flashing in the gloom. He doesn't even have time to blink before the god vanishes, only to reappear in another wave of crawling, oily smoke behind Riku. The teen flinches as cool, putrid wind rolls across his face.

"Ah, ah, ah. Shoving pointy things at me won't get you anywhere. And it especially won't get you what you're looking for. I own your little friend now, after all."

Riku is stricken at that, and makes no attempt to pull himself together. It takes a few tries to speak, because it feels as though his heart has crashed through his stomach, shattering into a thousand million pieces, and his tongue has suddenly become too thick for his mouth to let air through, let alone to make a sound.

"Wh-what?" He tries to swallow, but his mind too syrupy to think and his throat too dry to form words. "He's h-here?"

Hades shrugs, flipping his hand in a casual manner, though those cold, cold eyes still gaze unwaveringly at the paralyzed teen. "Maybe."

And suddenly, Riku is filled with fire, an anger so blazing that it burns away all traces of previous haze. Everything is now grief-tinged clarity, and nothing will stop him until he gets his answers.

Way to Dawn flashes in his hand as he steps forward, and even the god's insufferable smirk dims a bit at the utter controlled rage flashing in the warrior's eyes.

"Hey, calm down kid. I said I maybe have him, and maybe's all I got."

The advancing Keyblade wielder stopped short, though he did not lower the blade. "Maybe?" he spat, "How the hell can you only maybe have him?"

Hades disappears once more, only to reappear right in front of Riku's face. There is no grin on his face now, only thin lips and piercing eyes. "Like I said. Maybe. I got the kid all right. But it's not the whole thing. It's not even half of his soul. It's just a little bit, like the rest got broken off and sent somewhere else."

Riku knows that he shouldn't allow himself to hope, and honestly, he's rather stunned by the revelation. But, if only a part of the soul was here, then that meant….

That the rest was somewhere else. Somewhere not here. He could still be….

There's no time to think, because he knows he'll lose this chance if he waits much longer. His mouth takes over, and before his mind can even register it, he's gazing back into those dead eyes. "Give him to me."

"And why," the god asked slowly, his voice devoid of inflection, "would I want to do that? I hate the little shorty."

"You like making deals, right? Or so I've heard." Seeing nothing flicker across the face before him, Riku licks his lips nervously before continuing. "Then make one with me. Give me the portion of his soul you do have, and I'll give you something in return."

Satisfaction replaces the previous disinterest. "Well, well, well. Interesting proposition. And what do you have that's worth it?"

"My life."

"Not interested." The god hadn't even given the suggestion a thought before outright rejecting it.

Riku is taken a bit aback. What is worth more than life to the god of death? His fingers tighten once more on the Keyblade, and he looks down at it.

"Way to Dawn, then."

"No." The tone is flat, but that smirk is beginning to creep upon that pale, pointed face once more.

"Then what? They are all I have!"

"Not all." Hades slithers closer, the smoke twining around the desperate human like a living thing. "To come all the way down here only to kill yourself, you must care for the kid an awful lot. A whole lot."

"What do you want then?" Riku whispers.

The god lifts a hand, and in a whirl of black, a polished stone on a chain sits upon his palm. It sits almost unremarkable in size and cut, but for the fact that it seems to draw in all light around it. He holds it up for Riku's inspection.

"Your memories of him."

"What?"

"I want what you cherish most," the god hisses. "That happens to be him. So I'll take the memories you have of him. Every time you think of him, they'll be taken from your mind and stored in here for me to collect later."

"But-"

"But nothing. Your memories for his life. A fair price, don't you think?" Hades shrugs again. "Sure, you won't remember him, but you'll still have your precious feelings. And remember, you'll get him. Or at least part of him."

Is it fair? How can Hades ask this of him? Of all the things he has, Riku's memories are the only certainty that he will ever have in his desperate search. If he loses those, what will he have left?

But then again, what is the memory of a smile when the real one is more brilliant and warm than sun would ever be?

"Agreed. But I want his soul now." He is so very proud that his voice did not show how he is slowly shattering, piece by piece.

The god only raises an eyebrow. "Nuh-uh. Seal the deal first by putting it on." He dangles the chain in front of the teen, as if tempting an animal forward.

Riku's hand hesitates slightly over the stone. It feels so empty. Like…nothingness. He is loathe to let such a thing come into contact with his skin, but he has all ready made his choice.

Surprisingly enough, the only thing unusual feeling about it is it's unusually cool and smooth exterior. Otherwise, it feels the same as any other trinket. When he puts it on, it rests heavily against his chest before he tucks it beneath his shirt, chain and all. There is not even a lump under the cloth to signal where the stone lies. When that is done, he looks towards the waiting god.

"Well?"

The god seems scarily like a satisfied predator. "Look to your left."

At first, Riku doesn't see anything, and he wonders if the god has gone back on his word. It is not unheard of for Hades to trick a mortal, after all. It is then he sees the small, pale flicker in front of him, and would have wondered if it had been a trick of the light if there had been light in the Underworld.

It seems like such a frail, feeble thing, the opposite of what its true soul is in life, as though a small wind will cause it to dissipate. But there seems something so very familiar about it, and something in his heart responds. He takes one tentative step towards it, then another, until he is close enough to touch it if he wants.

His voice is low and rough when he speaks. "You can come here, you know. I promise, I'll keep you safe, until we find the rest of you."

The wisp quivers there for a moment, before it surrounds him like a mist and sinks inside.

Riku had expected it to be cold, like a chill fog, but it is so warm and comforting in a way that he has not felt for so long. He sobs to himself and sinks to his knees, Way to Dawn clanging to the ground beside him, as he is cradled in that aching familiarity. There is some pain as well, his heart almost not big enough for the both of them. But it will be worth it, if it will bring Riku to him.

Sora.